Federal Government moves to better protect children in Australia’s migration system

posted on October 16, 2024

Welcoming Disability, a group supported by more than 100 organisations and experts, has commended the Albanese Government for a significant reform to Australia’s Migration System – Children born and ordinarily resident in Australia will now be exempt from discriminatory health-related criteria that would have made them ineligible for a visa The Migration Regulations have been … Read More >>

Human rights lawyers call for national census to include the Intersex community

posted on September 10, 2024

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) expresses concern at the Albanese Government’s announcement that the 2026 National Census will continue to exclude people born with  innate variations of sex characteristics, despite the inclusion of sex, sexuality and gender questions. The announcement has been confirmed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, who previously worked with leading … Read More >>

Australian Human Rights Lawyers Demand LGBTIQ inclusion in the National Census

posted on August 27, 2024

As Australia prepares for its next National Census in 2026, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) seeks an overturn of the Australian Government’s decision to exclude the LGBTIQ community from the Census .  ALHR Vice President Nicholas Stewart said ‘All members of society, including the LGBTIQ community, should be accurately counted and represented in Australia’s … Read More >>

Human Rights Lawyers Express Frustration Over Delayed Equality Bill in NSW

posted on August 12, 2024

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has expressed frustration and concern at the NSW Government’s postponement of Alex Greenwich MP’s Equality Bill. The bill, which was scheduled for debate on Thursday 8 August 2024, has now been pushed back to October. ALHR President Kerry Weste said:  “The LGBTIQ+ community should not have to wait a … Read More >>

Review findings expose urgent need for reform of Australia’s discriminatory, outmoded and out of step Migration Health Requirement

posted on July 26, 2024

Welcoming Disability, a group supported by more than 100 organisations and experts, holds significant concern that  the  findings in the recently released Report on the Department of Home Affairs Review of Australia’s migration health requirement fall well short of what is needed. Darryl Steff, CEO of Down Syndrome Australia says: “It is disappointing that there continues … Read More >>

It’s time for Australia to walk the talk: Parliamentary Inquiry recommends an Australian Human Rights Act

posted on May 30, 2024

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights landmark report recommending that the Australian Government enact a federal Human Rights Act.  For over thirty years, ALHR has called on the Australian government to comprehensively incorporate its international human rights law obligations into domestic legislation via a federal Human Rights … Read More >>

ACT Legislative Assembly Committee Recommends the Protection of the Human Right to a Healthy Environment

posted on January 25, 2024

In an Australian first, an ACT Government Parliamentary Committee has recommended that the human right to a healthy environment be recognised under ACT law and protected within the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT). The ACT Legislative Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety today released its final report into the Inquiry into Human Rights (Healthy Environment) Amendment Bill 2023. … Read More >>

Parliamentary inquiry into Human Rights Act for South Australia

posted on December 10, 2023

South Australia is one step closer to a Human Rights Act, with the Social Development Committee of the South Australian Parliament committing to hold a parliamentary inquiry into how human rights across the State can be guaranteed and protected.  The announcement comes on Human Rights Day and exactly one year after a group of more … Read More >>

Major report calls for Federal Human Rights Act and overhaul of Australia’s Human Rights Framework

posted on December 8, 2023

A major new report tabled yesterday by Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP in Federal Parliament, calls for an overhaul of Australia’s Human Rights framework and a Federal Human Rights Act to better protect the rights of all Australians. Ms Kerry Weste, President, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR), said, “We welcome the … Read More >>

Civil Society calls for an end to discrimination against migrants with disabilities

posted on November 28, 2023

More than 70 of Australia’s leading disability and civil society organisations have endorsed wide-ranging recommendations to reform the nation’s archaic and degrading migration health laws. The recommendations are  part of a submission made by the Welcoming Disability Campaign to a public review of Australia’s migration health requirement being conducted by the Federal Government. The recommendations … Read More >>